The lady vanishes
by FOXY FOLLOWER
Summary: The miniature crime scene killer returns and Sara goes missing, will Grissom be able to save her? This is my take on what could happen in the season finale.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**** None of the characters are mine, they belong to CBS but the story ideas excluding spoilers from previous seasons are. This is based loosely on speculation into what will happen in the season finale. **

**The lady vanishes**

**Chapter one**

As Grissom left the apartment block he didn't notice the strange car tucked away in the furthest corner of the dimly lit car park. He was preoccupied thinking of the brunette he had left in a deep slumber back inside the building, he could not recall the last time he had felt this happy and utterly content with every aspect of his life. He had narrowly avoided a complete burnout at work; only by leaving behind what he loved did he rediscover his passion for the job and for other things as well. After so many years of denying his feelings he had finally taken the huge step and allowed Sara into his life, it had been a risk and Grissom was not a man to take risks without careful consideration, but maybe over five years of fighting his attraction to her could constitute as being over cautious, and now more than a year on he often wondered why he had shied away from his feelings for so long and as he made his way across the car park to his SUV he allowed a smile to pull at the corners of his mouth as he recalled the previous nights events. Yes, everything was going well in Grissom's life, little did he know how the next 48 hours would change things forever.

A dark shadow slumped in the drivers seat of the Buick watched as the black SUV passed and exited the car park. Sadie Thomson had been trailing the elusive Dr Grissom for nearly a year and she knew his routine from memory. The game of cat and mouse that they had played had been very enjoyable while it lasted and although he had almost discovered her identity he believed that they had caught the miniature killer some months before, but Sadie had one last surprise up her sleeve, one last act of revenge to evoke and it would be something that Gil Grissom would remember for the rest of his life.

After the tail light disappeared into the distance she quietly opened the door and made her way across the car park and into the main entrance of the apartment building, the only sound as she climbed the staircase was the muffled shuffling of her trainers on the stone steps. As she rounded the corner on the second floor she easily found the door she was looking for, after all she had been in this apartment before, on a number of occasions in order to become familiar with the layout and also to get every detail right for her model. As she closed in on the heavy wooden door she nervously pulled a stray lock of her blond hair back behind her ear, her hands were clammy as the adrenaline which she always felt before one of these events rushed through her veins. Silently she pulled a small multi tool from her pocket and selected a sharp knife, briefly she scanned the empty corridor for any witnesses before running the knife down the small gap between the doorframe and the door until she heard the familiar click sound and the door began to open.

Since she was a child Sara had always had trouble sleeping, the violent argument, a regular occurrence in her house hadn't helped and she always slept with one ear open just in case. So once she knew Grissom had left the apartment she gave up on trying to get back to sleep, the bed seemed uninviting without his warm body beside her. Old habits die hard and Sara was no exception, she sat propped up in bed reading the latest issue of the Forensic Journal while half listening to the crackle of the police scanner when all of a sudden a strange noise coming from the living area caught her attention. Placing the journal down on her lap she turned down the volume on the scanner and listened. After a few seconds of silence the noise came again – thud. It sounded like drawers being opened and then slammed shut. For a moment Sara considered the possibility that Grissom had forgotten something and returned, but she knew that he would have come into the bedroom first or at the very least would not be making so much noise. Her moment of deliberation was interrupted by the persistent noise again. Reluctantly she threw back the bed sheets and pulled out her gun from the bedside table and padded across the room to the closed door. Feeling her heartbeat quicken and her breath begin to labour she took a deep breath and reached out for the handle.

Sadie was getting impatient; she was making enough noise to wake the whole apartment building so why wasn't the stupid bitch coming out. When she first planned to reap revenge on Grissom she had considered kidnapping him but after a few weeks of following him she had decided that taking Sara would have far greater impact, after all she had witnessed them together and any fool could see how besotted he was. No, this was a better plan, the woman would be easier to acquire and she then would have the pleasure of watching the great Dr Grissom deal with his sordid little romance becoming common knowledge and desperately working against time to find his girlfriend.

As Grissom made his way down the maze of corridors to his office he almost collided with Catherine.

"You look unusually happy, have you won the lottery and not told us?" Catherine watched her friend carefully, for the last few months she had noticed a change in him. Instead of hiding away in his office he was actually interacting with the rest of the team and only last month he had taken four straight days vacation, the first time in at least the last five years.

"Money doesn't make you happy Cath; you of all people should know that." Punctuating his words with a wide smile he headed into his office leaving Catherine even more bemused.

_Something was definitely not right_, she thought to herself as she headed off to the breakroom, and before the end of shift she vowed to find out exactly what was the cause of her friends strange behaviour.

Grissom had only just settle down in his chair and opened up a case file when a knock broke his concentration.

"Come in."

Seeing Hodges shuffle into the room Grissom felt his good mood begin to fade. Just recently Hodges had become even more irritating than usual with his 'little chats' and gossiping around the department he felt that on more than one occasion he could have cheerfully strangled the lanky lab tech.

"Hodges, I'm really very busy can't this wait?"

"Another one arrived this morning, I've been waiting for you to come in, I've not let anybody touch it in case of contamination." Hodges voice came at such a rate that Grissom could barely understand what he was babbling on about until he spotted the large box he was holding, before placing it on the desk in front of his supervisor.

Sara turned the door handle and pulled it towards her, as she began to peer into the living area she scanned the room for any signs of disturbance. Nothing seemed out of place so she shifted the gun in her right hand bringing it up to waist height and stepped through the doorway. Sweat began to form on her forehead causing her hair to stick, the apartment was silent, the only noise was the sound of her own raspy breathing. _Had she imagined the noise? _She thought. As if on cue a loud thud drew her attention to the kitchen area which was partly obscured by the large refrigerator, and as she turned to the source of the noise she felt a sudden shock of pain to the side of her head causing her to release her grip on the gun, as if in slow motion she saw it fall to the floor and a lone figure approach, before her knees gave way and darkness shrouded her vision as she lost consciousness.

After expelling Hodges from his office Grissom carefully removed the tape securing the box, he knew what was inside. All the others had arrived in an identical box, what he couldn't understand was why he was still receiving these miniature crime scenes. _Had they got the wrong man when Ernie Dell submitted his suicide confession?_

Lifting the model out of the box and placing it on his desk Grissom stared in disbelief at what was in front of him. _Surely this couldn't be happening; it must be someone's idea of a sick joke_. Sitting back in his chair he scanned the replica of the all too familiar décor until his eyes came to rest on the doll splayed haphazardly on the bed. It had been made with such painstaking detail that its identity was unmistakable. Shoulder length brown hair, even down to the flower tattoo on the left ankle –'Sara.' The words escaped his lips in an audible gasp. "Oh my god." Grissom felt a wave of panic sweep over his body.

A/N: Please review and give any ideas you have for the following chapters, they are all welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer****: Characters owned by CBS**

**Chapter Two**

Grissom snatched the phone from his desk and punched in the familiar number, for what seemed like an eternity he listened to it ring out. _Maybe she has gone out?_ He thought. Cutting the connection he redialled her cell, again no answer. Leaping from his chair he sprinted down the corridor past the break room where the rest of the team watched in confusion.

"Where's he going in such a hurry?" Warrick looked to Catherine for an answer.

"Beats me, haven't you noticed he's been acting kinda odd lately?" Catherine glanced at each member of the team in turn, their confused expression revealed their answer, for saying they worked for the number two crime lab in the country she was surprised that they hadn't even picked up on what was happening right under their noses.

"You mean he's been acting more odd than usual?" Greg added with a grin causing Nick and Warrick to break into a round of laughter.

Deciding that she wasn't going to get anywhere talking to them Catherine left the giggling trio and headed down the corridor after Grissom, but just as she was about to enter the car park she saw his SUV speed out of the parking lot.

Grissom's mind was racing as he headed onto the highway that led to Sara's apartment, random questions flooded his brain. _What had all the crime scenes got in common? Why had they been sent to him? Why Sara? What was the link?_ A moment of clarity reminded him to call for backup, after all he did not know what would be waiting for him. Hitting speed dial he was greeted by Captain Brass's gruff voice after only two rings.

"Brass."

"Jim, its Gil, listen I can't explain now but I need you to meet me at Sara's apartment ASAP. Do you need the address?"

"No, I got it, will I need to bring a unit with me or should I come alone?" After hearing the strange tone in Grissom's voice Jim knew that whatever this was about it was serious.

"Come alone." Grissom was struggling to think straight, he trusted Brass and it was beginning to occur to him that if this was for real and something terrible had happened to Sara then their relationship would not stay a secret for much longer. "How soon can you get there?"

"I'm about 5 or 6 minutes away, I'll meet you there." With that Brass broke the connection leaving Grissom listening to a dialling tone.

After filling Brass in on the basic details they quickly climbed the two flights of stairs and closed in on apartment number 23. Both men drew their weapons and as Grissom produced a key and began to open the door he looked to his friend to confirm that he was ready.

The apartment was quiet, Brass took the lead and moving into the living area he scanned the room. Nothing, as he made his way through the open plan kitchen to the closed door he briefly glanced down to the floor near the refrigerator. There his attention was drawn to the Sara's discarded service weapon, lay in the same place it fell from her grasp and a small pool of what looked like blood. Glancing back he saw that Grissom had made the same discovery.

"Are you OK?" Brass could see that his friend was struggling to keep his composure and if what Grissom had told him turned out to be true what lay beyond this closed door would not be a pretty sight.

Swallowing hard Grissom forced his eyes away from the scene on the floor, feeling his breath become erratic and his chest tighten he felt like he was having some sort of panic attack but just as his vision began to blur he felt Jim's hand on his shoulder.

"Stay with me buddy, we need to clear this room, are you with me?"

Although he wanted to run from the apartment, scared to death of what lay ahead Grissom managed to nod absently.

Opening the door slowly at first, Brass heard a muffled sound coming from inside the room, he strained his ears to try and make out the sound more clearly.

"All units this is Sierra, Foxtrot, Delta there is a robbery in progress at the liquor store on Ashbury Avenue East, all available units please attend."

Pushing the door fully open but sending his weapon in first in case somebody was hiding, Brass soon discovered the source of the voice. The police scanner was still crackling away on the bedside table. Although the volume was turned down low, in the silent apartment the noise seemed to echo around the room. Jim checked the rest of the room quickly and moved into the adjoining bathroom leaving Grissom alone, when he rejoined his friend he found him standing motionless in the middle of the room.

"I don't understand it Jim, the was no mistaking the identity of the victim or the location of the crime scene, and I know that something is wrong." Grissom moved to sit on the unmade bed and gathered his head in his hands, when he looked back at Brass he saw that he was staring at the photograph that sat on the dresser. It was the one that had been taken a few months before when he and Sara had managed to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a few days. In it they looked like any other couple lost in each others embrace, Grissom remembered how happy and alive he felt when he was on that vacation. The thought of losing all that made tears prick at his eyes and in a bid to conceal them from his friend he lowered his gaze to the floor.

"How long have you two been….." Brass allowed his voice to trail off, he was not a man who could easily be sensitive and show his emotions, dealing with hardened criminals for the last 35 years had made that difficult but although he had had no idea his friend had finally done something about his feelings for Sara he had been aware for a very long time that the two shared a connection that was stronger than most marriages.

"Over a year." Grissom met his friends gaze and tried to judge his reaction but Brass simply nodded. "After Nick was taken I kind of re evaluated my life and in the end all the excuses I had made up as to why we couldn't be together seemed insignificant, and you know what? She makes me happy, I never knew anything was missing from my life until we got together." Rubbing his eyes in a vain attempt to regain some composure Grissom added, "We have to find her Jim, whatever it takes. Nothing else matters to me, only Sara."

"Hearing the sheer determination in his friends voice Brass immediately retrieved his cell and put out a missing persons call to all units before handing the phone to Grissom, "You know Gil, you need to call in the rest of the team on this, they need to process this apartment, if there is anything here, they'll find it."

Grissom did not relish the idea of everybody trampling through his and Sara's private life but he knew it needed to be done; the longer Sara was missing the more danger she was in. Hitting speed dial he waited for Catherine to answer.

Around about the same time Sara began to regain consciousness. Momentarily confused she wondered if she was waking from a nightmare but the intense pulsating pain coming from the side of her head told her that the nightmare was only just beginning. Forcing her eyes to open she blinked repeatedly to force her blurred vision to clear. Taking in her surroundings for the first time she was perplexed to find that she was back in her own bedroom spayed haphazardly on the bed. Nothing seemed out of place until she heard the voice on the police scanner announce a missing person alert, for a Sara Sidle.

A/N: Tell me what you think so far, the next chapter will have more Sara in it. I promise! Reviews inspire me to write quicker :-)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Sara sat paralysed on the bed, the mammoth headache, like a sledgehammer hitting the side of her head relentlessly did nothing to help clear her confusion. Taking a closer look around the room she struggled to make sense of the last few hours, the only thing she remembered was hearing a noise out in the living area and after that nothing. Clambering off the bed and moving on shaky legs towards the door that led out to the kitchen she grabbed the handle and pulled - nothing. The door wouldn't open, she tried again, the same thing happened.

Sara began to feel a wave of panic wash over her, moving to the only other door in the room she repeated the process. Instead of opening up into her spacious bathroom the door didn't budge. Without thinking she brushed her loose hair back from her face, feeling a damp sticky liquid trickle through her fingers she pulled her hand away and stared down in horror at her blood streaked fingers. Drawing her breath in a sudden gasp Sara stumbled over to the window which was concealed by the closed curtains, pulling back the thin blue material the sight before her made her recoil. Instead of undisturbed fields there was a crude painting of the scene in place of the glass. Tentatively she reached out to the wooden panel as if her mind was playing tricks on her and what she was seeing wasn't real but as she made contact with the rough material a sob escaped her lips.

Turning back to her 'staged' bedroom she began to look for other things out of place. The dresser was the same, even down to the photograph of her and Grissom, the wardrobe and the bed were identical too, as was the carpet and the bed linen. After a moment her eyes came to rest on the casual shaker style chair in the corner of the room, she had the same chair in her bedroom but what she didn't recognise was the doll placed neatly on the seat. Crossing the room Sara lifted the doll and inspected its features. Brown hair and eyes and a blue dress, it wasn't unique there must be thousands of dolls like this in Vegas but what was unusual was the bright red paint smeared over the left side of its head. As she lifted her eyes from the doll Sara was met by her own reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall opposite, what stared back at her caused her to drop the doll. The wound to her head had made her brown hair matted but it didn't disguise the large area of blood covering the left side of her head in the same identical spot as the paint had been placed on the doll.

As Sadie returned form her errand she was greeted by a loud scream, smiling she congratulated herself on devising such a clever plan. So far things were going well.

Back at the lab Catherine had assembled the whole team in Grissom's office and after filling everyone in on the status of Sara's disappearance she looked at Grissom who was deep in thought behind his desk before continuing.

"Grissom, do you want to continue the briefing?" Catherine had known Gil Grissom for over 10 years but the revelations he had revealed to her just an hour before had shocked her to the core. She thought she knew everything there was to know about Grissom but apparently she was wrong. For the last year and a half he had been living what she could only describe as a double life. But, after all said and done Grissom had supported her and covered for her on numerous occasions and now he was the one in trouble she was more than willing to do whatever it took to help.

Catherine's voice broke Grissom's daze; meeting her gaze he answered her with a slight nod.

"Catherine has filled you in on the facts but what you don't know is the reason." Grissom stared at his colleagues vacant expressions before continuing. "Sara and I have been involved for over a year." A collective gasp filled the room.

"You mean you and Sara have been…." Greg left his question mid sentence as Nick elbowed him roughly in the ribs.

"It's alright Nick." Grissom reassured the stocky Texan. "Yes Greg, we have been in a relationship for some time, but I need you to get over your shock and concentrate on finding Sara. She has been taken because she has a connection to me. Why? Who and Where? Are the questions we need to answer.

The meeting was interrupted by a loud knock at the door; Warrick who had been leaning against it opened it to reveal an intern holding a brown envelope. "This came for you by courier Dr Grissom, it is stamped urgent." The young woman nervously handed the package to Grissom before leaving the room.

Turning the envelope in his hand Grissom noted that the address had been hand written but it had no other distinguishing features to hint to its sender or its contents.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Greg was fighting the urge to snatch the package out of Grissom's grasp and rip it open, the suspense was almost unbearable.

Selecting a scalpel from his desk drawer and putting on some latex gloves Grissom slit the envelope open carefully as to not disturb any DNA evidence left behind by the person who had licked the seal. Slowly he tipped the contents onto a white piece of paper and checked that nothing was left in the envelope before placing it in the evidence bag which Catherine had prepared.

Six pairs of eyes stared at Grissom's desk, the package had contained a single sheet of paper, picking it up Grissom felt the air evacuate his lungs and his chest constrict at the horrible sight before him. It was a photograph identical to that of the miniature crime scene he had received but instead of a doll placed on the bed the picture was of Sara apparently injured and collapsed on the bed, he couldn't tell if she was alive.

Reluctantly he passed the photograph to Catherine who clamped a hand across her mouth to stifle the scream that threatened to escape. As each and every member of the team viewed the picture a mixture of anger and disbelief filled the room.

Recovering from his initial shock Grissom gritted his teeth in a bid to stop himself from losing the fragile hold he had on his composure, anger eventually won and he slammed his fists on the desk causing everybody to take a step back,

"Who is doing this? When I figure out who is behind all this I'm going to….kill them."

Brass placed a hand on his friend shoulder and forced him back down in his seat. "We are all going to be working around the clock to get Sara back, but we need you to keep calm Gil, you are no use to anybody let alone Sara in this state."

Eventually nodding his agreement Grissom took a deep breath before speaking.

"Catherine, Warrick I need you to go over Sara's apartment with a fine tooth comb, take samples of everything." Silently Catherine and Warrick left the others and headed out to collect their kits, nobody would be going home until Sara had been found.

"Nick, Greg I want you to go over the previous miniature murders for anything we missed."

"You got it boss." Nick crossed the room and placed a hand on Grissom's shoulder, "we're gonna find her Grissom, I promise you we will find her like she found me when I needed her." Nick fought to hold back the tears that had build up in his eyes before calling to Greg and both men sprinted from the office.

"Jim, Sara was working on trying to find out the identity of the Dell foster kids, can you see how far she got and if it kicks up any leads?"

"I'm on it." Brass hadn't left the room before he was barking orders into his cell demanding an update on the MISPER.

Alone, Grissom again lifted the picture up off his desk. He felt his frustration as he searched the image for any clues, any connection. His eyes fell once more onto the figure straggled on the bed in such an ungainly position, he traced the outline with his thumb and whispered, "Come back to me Sara, don't leave me now, I need you." Just as he was about to succumb to his emotions his eyes landed on the doll sat in the chair, scanning the photograph more carefully with a magnifying glass he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The doll was the same one that had appeared in all the other miniature crime scenes.

A/N Reviews, ideas etc. are all welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

** Disclaimer:**** CBS owns the character, but if they are looking to get rid of Sara Sidle...?All mistakes and non-spoiler idea's are mine.  
**

**Chapter 4**

Sara frantically paced the floor between the wardrobe and the makeshift window trying to put together the evidence when all of a sudden the sound of one of the doors being unlocked interrupted her thoughts. Instinctively backing away from the door until she felt the wall behind her Sara felt as if her heart would pound straight through her chest as she heard the blood rush through her ears in anticipation.

As the door swung open a stocky woman Sara guessed to be in her late 20's, early 30's stepped into the room. Fixing Sara in an even stare the woman closed in on her until she was within five feet of where she stood.

"Hello Sara, You can call me Sadie." The woman grinned revealing an uneven line of crooked teeth.

"What do you want?" Sara tried to look past the woman and see if she could possibly overpower her and escape.

"This isn't about you Sara, my grievance is with Grissom and the best way to get to him is through you." Sadie relished the way she was the one in control, all her life she had been insignificant and now she had so many people tracking her and she was outwitting them at every stage, soon her name would be across the front page of every newspaper on the west coast.

"You are going to be the star of the next stage of my plan, now sit." Sadie lunged at Sara causing her to over balance and collapse on the chair with a heavy bump.

Sara watched helplessly as the strange woman busied herself setting up a video camera, she noted how she kept up a steady stream of conversation under her breath, so quiet that it was inaudible."

When she had finished her task Sadie turned to Sara and uttered through gritted teeth, "Now if you want to see your precious Gil again, you will do as I ask…" Her sentence was cut short as Sara seized the moment and sprang from her seat and attempted to out run Sadie. The two women tangled in a bid to gain the upper hand but as strong as Sara was, Sadie was stronger. Eventually she forced Sara up against the wall pinning her in place with her forearm pressed across her throat.

"Don't be stupid, you try anything like that again and your boyfriend will be finding your body parts for the next 6 months – understand?"

Sara managed to nod her reluctant agreement before the woman used the full force of her upper body to deliver a blow across the right side of her face. Instantly Sara began to taste the bitter metallic sensation as her own blood filled her mouth.

"Good I am glad we understand each other." Sadie roughly shoved Sara back onto the seat and pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket. "Read this, only this and don't try any other smart moves."

As Sara lifted a shaky hand to take the paper she prayed that by now Grissom had realised she was missing and was trying to find her.

Grissom was searching the internet in an attempt to come up with a match for the doll, it was a long shot but maybe if the doll was rare enough they could track down who had bought one in the Greater Las Vegas area. The task had so far come up with nothing and Grissom was beginning to feel despondent when Brass burst into the room.

"I think I found something, Sara had done a detailed investigation into the thirteen Dell foster kids from the party video, the one which stood out from the rest was a Sadie Thomson, all the other kids had no further contact with Ernie Dell after they got move on but this Sadie was different." Seeing that he had Grissom's full attention he quickly continued. "According to Dell's son Lionel she would hang out with Ernie all the time and he taught her how to build models, they were still in close contact right up to his suicide, which could be a motive."

As Grissom's mind raced into overdrive Catherine rushed into the room, "Gil, this was just left for you at the front desk." She put the brown Jiffy envelope she was carrying on the lay out table.

As before Grissom cut the seal with a scalpel and dropped the contents onto the desk. This time the package didn't contain a photograph but a disc from a video camera. Grissom looked at his colleagues before placing the disc in the DVD Rom on the lap top. After a moments delay a sudden image flashed onto the screen.

Sara, still dressed in the tank top and lounge pants from the night before sat in a chair which Grissom instantly recognised as the one which the doll had been seated on in the photograph. Her body language conveyed what she could not say in words, she had a number of facial injuries which distorted her usually pale complexion and she seemed to be distracted and constantly watching something or maybe someone off camera. After a silent lull she began to read from a piece of paper which she held in shaky hands. Grissom noticed that she still wore the engagement ring that he had given her only the previous evening, now it seemed like a life time ago. As she began to speak Catherine caught the slight quiver in her usually confident husky voice.

"Dr Grissom, you don't know me but I know a lot about you. You think that you are so superior and yet you have failed to catch me even though I have killed three people. You are no nearer to catching me than when I started, you made a fatal mistake when you hounded my father into suicide. You have taken away what was precious to me, now I will do the same to you." As Sara read the last few lines a trail of tears began to trickle down her face, when she had finished the statement she looked directly into the camera as if she could actually see Grissom through the lens.

A voice from off camera broke into the silence, "Take a good look Dr Grissom, the next time you see Sara she will be a 'living doll'." The screen went black leaving Grissom to ponder the cryptic message.

"Brass, do you have a current address for this Sadie Thomson?" Grissom was already on his feet and heading out the door.

"Yeah, a unit is on its way out to the location, it is only a few blocks east."

"Good, we'll meet them there, Catherine can you take the disc to Archie and see if he can pull anything off it?" Grissom felt that time was ticking away and although he still didn't know why the killer had targeted him he knew better than to doubt her word. They had to find Sara fast.

Brass pulled the Taurus up outside a small single storey building in a run down district of the city. The black and whites had already cleared the house and found it to be empty.

As Grissom stepped into the first room he was met by the pungent stench of day's old food and a general musty smell he couldn't quite put a name to. The room looked as if it had been ransacked, broken pictures lay scattered on the floor while ornaments and shredded newspapers littered the room.

As Brass climbed over the broken glass and disappeared into a room past the kitchen Grissom bent down and shook the loose fragments of glass from one of the picture frames, bringing it closer into view he instantly recognised Ernie Dell as being one of the two people in the photograph. He estimated that the picture was fairly recent; it had been taken in some sort of workshop where Dell and the young woman in the scene sat proudly either side of a scaled model, Grissom couldn't be sure but it looked like a similar type of model, if not the exact one as had been left after the murder of Izzy Delancy. Turning the photograph over Grissom noted the words on the back, "Me and Sadie, summer 06'."

"Gil you have got to see this." Brass's voice came booming down the hall way.

Joining his friend in a room that he could best describe as a den, Grissom was speechless to find the walls completely covered with photographs and newspaper articles going back at least 2 years. Although the articles only focused on cases he had worked on the photographs showed him not only at work but at home, with Sara.

"Hell, she must have been following us for months." Grissom's eyes came to rest on one picture in particular, depicting him and Sara in a close embrace with his hand resting lightly on her waist, both were laughing at something, he could not remember what it was, why couldn't he remember? He needed to remember, to feel close to her again. Someone had circled the pair and written, 'bitch' in bold black marker.

A forced cough from behind them caused the pair to spin around, only to come face to face with a large middle aged man, "Er, hi, I'm Billy Mathews, I live next door. Are you looking for Sadie?

Brass stepped towards the intruder and set a fake smile upon his face, "Yeah, you know where we can find her buddy?"

"Is she in some sort of trouble, because she's always been the quiet sort, a perfect neighbour." As Billy took in the photographs covering the walls Brass noticed he began to fidget and his words died on his lips.

"Why don't we have a little chat outside Billy?" Ushering the man out into the hallway he gave Grissom a knowing look along the way.

Within a few minutes he returned and nearly dragged Grissom from the room. "I got a lead, come on I'll fill you in on the way, this could be it."

A/N: Please review, I love to read them.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This is the last chapter and I have tried to increase the tension, I hope it lives up to all your expectations. Thanks to all of you who took the time to review this story.**

**Chapter five**

Sara woke from a restless slumber, her head was pounding making it difficult to open her eyes and focus, but more than anything she was thirsty, her tongue stuck to the sides of her mouth in a sticky mess making it difficult to swallow. At first she didn't notice the bottle of water on the bedside table and when she eventually became aware of its appearance she fought an inner battle between grabbing the plastic bottle and downing the cool liquid in one long chug and resisting temptation in case the water had somehow been tampered with.

Picking up the bottle she carefully scrutinized the seal and finding that it was still in tact, made short work of unscrewing the cap and gulping the liquid like a drowning man gasping for air. At first she relished the way the cool wetness diluted her thick saliva but within minutes she began to feel odd. A tingling sensation, starting in her fingers and toes spread rapidly throughout her body causing her limbs to appear heavy and all her attempts to move only resulted in her clumsily making exaggerated steps, only managing two before her weak legs collapsed from under her. As if in a dream world she lay helpless as the door opened and Sadie entered, kneeling beside Sara's incapacitated form her features contorted into a combination of a smile and a sneer. "Not long now Sara and all this will be over."

Effortlessly Sadie dragged Sara from the room to an adjoining garage where the Buick lay in waiting, the engine already ticking over.

Brass had filled Grissom in on the information the neighbour had provided, how Sadie spent most of her time at her workshop where she and Dell made dolls houses and all the furniture to go with it, apparently it was a successful business that Thomson and Dell set up together some years before. The workshop was situated over the other side of the city and as Brass pushed the Taurus to its maximum speed the tension in the vehicle was palpable, Grissom stared aimlessly out of the window, hands clenched in tight fists.

As they neared the front of the building Brass pulled the car into the curb but just as a couple of squad cars joined them a speeding car emerged from the garage lock up and crossed their path at high speed. Immediately Brass barked orders into his radio for one of the units to follow the vehicle while the other stayed and cleared the building.

"Did you see who was in the car Gil?" Jim struggled to keep up with the car ahead as it turned off the main road and headed down a dirt track weaving precariously from side to side and kicking up plumes of dust in its wake.

"I think I could just make out the driver and one other, I can't be sure if it's Sara, but it has to be. Can't you go any faster?" Grissom frantically held on to the handle as Brass steered the car around the numerous pothole and rocks which littered their path.

"Look, if I catch one of these wrong and blow a tire, we'll loose them, keep calm Gil, this road leads to nowhere, sooner or later this psycho will realise that."

Sirens echoed across the vast open expanse of land as the trio of cars headed in convoy further and further away from the city. In the passenger seat of the Buick Sara sat slumped against the door, unbeknown to Sadie the effects of the concoction which she had slipped her were beginning to wear off. As Sadie gave her full attention to the road ahead she did not notice that her reluctant companion had begun to unbuckle her seatbelt and all too late did she sense that the passenger door was open. In a vain attempt to regain control of her hostage Sadie reached across the seat and grabbed the back of Sara's pants.

From their position behind, Brass and Grissom watched helplessly as the car veered from one side of the road to the other careering over potholes with such speed that the vehicles wheel actually left the ground on a number of occasions. They had a clear view of the passenger door as it flew open and then abruptly closed again; the shadows and shapes of a tussle going on between the two occupants caught their attention until the Car began to pull away from them and a quick glance at the speedometer from Brass confirmed that they were traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour. As the battered Buick raced over a blind ridge its wheels left the ground once more and it surged forward for twenty metres before regaining contact with the ground in such a violent way that it began to roll over from its wheel to its roof. Over and over the tangled metal made its decent down the hill, as the Taurus came to a standstill both men got out and watched helplessly as the wreckage burst into flames in a giant fireball.

Grissom was the first to recover; he raced down towards the now unrecognizable heap but the heat of the fire forced him to recoil and he fell to his knees screaming a single word over and over. "Sara."

From his position a couple of metres to the right Brass thought that he had seen something thrown from the car before it caught fire, running into the coarse scrubland he searched back and forth until he found what he was looking for. "Gil, get over here."

Turning Grissom saw his friend crouching beside what looked like a heap of rag and it was only when he came closer that he saw that it was in fact a person. Running to join Brass Grissom felt at first relief and then panic as he realized that the detective was cradling Sara in his arms and trying to shake a response from her.

"Is she alive Jim?" Grissom came to rest beside his friend and saw with his own eyes that Sara remained limp and lifeless.

"We need an ambulance, stay with her Gil while I go back to the car and radio for help." Brass was already retreating in the direction of the Taurus as Grissom removed his jacket and rolled it up to make a makeshift pillow for Sara's head. Her clothes were shredded on her lithe frame and did little to conceal the bruising and scrapes covering her whole body, taking her hand in his own Grissom prayed with all his heart that he wasn't too late and he would get the opportunity to tell her what so far he had not.

After what seemed like an eternity to Grissom the emergency services arrived and set to work but no amount of dissuasion could prevent Grissom from riding in the ambulance, leaving Brass to wait for the fire department to arrive and put out the fire still burning bright as the sun began to set on the Nevada desert landscape. On the long journey back to the city Sara began to stir, slowly at first just a moan and then more clearly, "Gris…som?"

When they finally reached the hospital the rest of the team was waiting, they had heard about what had happened over their radios and had left mid shift to meet them when they arrived.

"What's going on?"

"Is Sara going to be alright?"

"Is there anything we can do Grissom?"

Their rapid fire of questions caught Grissom off guard and for a moment he said nothing until Catherine crossed the room and put a hand on her friend shoulder sensing that the shock of the day was finally catching up with the usually composed Grissom. "Come on, take your time."

After a moment he looked at each member of his team in turn and spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper, "I almost lost her, after everything we have been through it could all have been over with in the space of 24 hours."

Catherine nodded her quiet understanding before asking, "What did the doctors actually say?"

Blinking back the moisture that had built up in his eyes Grissom allowed a small smile curve his lips, "she's going to be alright, a couple of broken ribs and a mild concussion is about the worst of it, all the rest of her injuries are superficial."

A collective, "Thank God." Echoed around the room as each member of the team took turns to hug each other, their relief was palpable.

After a moments deliberation a thought occurred to Grissom, "What about Sadie? Did they find her?"

Catherine's evasive gaze instantly alerted Grissom that there was something wrong. "What is it Catherine? Tell me."

"A little while ago Brass came in with an update, apparently when the fire-fighters were able to get into the wreckage of the car it was empty, no signs that there was ever anybody trapped in the vehicle, nothing."

SIX MONTHS LATER….

Sara had recovered from her physical injuries well, but the mental scars of the ordeal still remained in the form of horrific nightmares which left her screaming during the night and no matter how many times Grissom held her close and told her everything would be alright the ritual would return the following night. He had not told Sara that Sadie hadn't been found in the wreckage of the accident knowing that it would serve to cause her more anguish and he wanted to avoid that at all cost.

Their relationship had come under the scrutiny of the whole lab but the sheriff had supported them and that left the likes of Conrad Ecklie without a leg to stand on and so even he had been forced to accept their involvement. The rest of the team had surprised them by holding a party at Catherine's and their overwhelming response to the news that Grissom and Sara had gotten engaged was a wholehearted, 'about time!' which left the pair wondering why they had tried so hard to keep things a secret for so long in the first place.

Just when Grissom felt that life was again getting back on track he walked into his office at the beginning of shift to discover a mysterious box covering the majority of his desk space. Zipping off the securing tape with his keys he felt a wave of nausea sweep over him when he opened the flaps to reveal a miniature crime scene model and a simple note which read, 'Payback!'


End file.
